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\U OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE 


HEARING 


BEFORE THE 


SUBCOMMITTEE 


OF THE 


COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY 

UNITED STATES SENATE 

,r A 

THURSDAY, JANUARY 26, 1899 


THE BILL (S. 4698) TO ESTABLISH A BUREAU OF 
DOMESTIC SCIENCE 


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WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 

1910 









RESOLUTION INDORSING BILLS RELATING TO DOMESTIC SCIENCE. 

The board of directors of the National Domestic Science Association met at the 
Sinton Hotel this afternoon (May 18, 1910), and carefully considered the bills before 
the United States Congress upon domestic science and home economics. The two 
bills, the Wilson bill for bureau of domestic science (formerly known as the Kyle 
bill), covering the methods of systematizing and enlarging the means of obtaining 
more reliable instruction for use in the schools and homes, and the Davis bill for 
disseminating that instruction, which has more recently been brought before the 
public, were discussed and found to be mutually helpful. Although the bill for the 
bureau of domestic science is the first legislation on these lines ever introduced into 
Congress and this organization is the recognized leader in United States Congress, 
the work laid down by them in the Senate hearing ten years ago through farmers’ 
institutes, state universities, agricultural colleges, and organizations have developed 
into the movement covered by the Davis bill. They cordially indorsed the Davis 
bill as being in perfect harmony with the lines of action which they have for years 
presented to the public and promoted in Congress and in various parts of the nation. 

The following resolution was therefore adopted: 

RESOLUTION 

Upon H. R. 24703 (S. 7851), by Representative Wilson and Senator Cullom, of Illi¬ 
nois, for establishing bureau of domestic science; Senate bill 4675, introduced by 
Senator Dolliver, of Iowa, and Congressman Davis, of Minnesota, for disseminating 
the information on domestic science in secondary and higher schools. 

Whereas there are bills now before Congress to further domestic-science work in 
the various States; be it 

Resolved , That this association favor the passage of these bills and urge upon the 
Congressmen of the States the necessity of giving these bills their active support, 

Mrs. James H. Kyle, South Dakota, 

Mrs. Chas. W. Fairbanks, Indiana. 

Mrs. Josiah Shepard, Wisconsin. 

Mrs. H. Thane Miller, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

Mrs. John M. Palmer, Springfield, Ill. 

Miss Emma C. Sickels, Washington, D. C. 



2 




BUREAU OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE. 


Thursday, January 26 , 1899 . 

The subcommittee met at half past 10 o’clock a. m. 

Present: Senators Gear (chairman), Hansbrough, and Roach; also 
Miss Emma C. Sickels, Mrs. James H. Kyle, and Mrs. Charles W. 
Fairbanks, representing the Domestic Science Association; Dr. Tarle- 
ton H. Bean, of the National Pure Food Association; and Mr. John 
Trimble, secretary of the National Grange, Patrons of Husbandry. 

The Chairman. Who is to be the spokesman? 

Mrs. Kyle. Miss Sickels. 

The Chairman. Miss Sickels, we will hear you with great pleasure. 

STATEMENT BY MISS EMMA C. SICKELS. 

Miss Sickels. Mr. Chairman, the object of our conference this 
morning is to present to you the subject of domestic science, or the 
systematic means by which the uses and methods of the preparation 
of food may be made more widely known among the women and in 
the homes of our country. 

The objects of our National Domestic Science Association are the 
promotion and development of a systematic knowledge of the best 
methods and appliances for domestic art and the placing of the best 
foods before the greatest number of people. One year ago the fol¬ 
lowing resolution was adopted by the Farmers’ National Congress 
held in Indianapolis, Ind.: 

Whereas the ultimate object of agriculture is the production of food for mankind; 

Whereas that object fails in the most essential point if the food which is produced 
with skill is ruined in preparation through ignorance; therefore be it 

Resolved , That we, the National Farmers’ Congress, use our active influence and 
effort toward establishing a bureau of domestic science in the Department of Agri¬ 
culture at Washington and in the various state agricultural fairs, colleges, and institutes 
throughout the nation, where best methods and appliances for the preparation of food 
may be presented in connection with best methods and appliances for its production. 

Miss Emma C. Sickels, of the National Domestic Science Associa¬ 
tion, was appointed by the president of the National Farmers’ Con¬ 
gress, chairman of the committee on domestic science, to act under 
this resolution, of which committee Mrs. John M. Palmer, of Spring- 
field, Ill.; Mrs. James H. Kyle, of Aberdeen, S. Dak.; Mr. John M. 
Stahl, secretary of the National Farmers’ Congress; Hon. William H. 
Liggett, dean of the Minnesota Agricultural College; Mrs. H. Thane 
Miller, of Cincinnati, Ohio; Hon. Franklin Dye, secretary of the 
New Jersey State Board of Agriculture; and F. E. Dawley, director 
of farmers’ institutes, New York State, are the members. All of these 
are connected with some phase of the work of domestic science from 
their different standpoints. 


3 



4 


BUREAU OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE. 


During the past year these representatives of different bodies and 
phases of the work of domestic science in its practical application to 
the study and preparation of food have been cooperating in promot¬ 
ing an interest in this study. It is found that in different agricultural 
colleges there are now departments of domestic science which are 
handicapped for lack of funds, but they are even more handicapped 
by the lack of a uniform system of instruction. 

The women of the country are showing their desire to have an 
opportunity for education in this work which is to them of such vital 
importance. A bill was introduced at the close of the last session 
known as Senate bill 4698, by which a bureau of domestic science, to 
be connected with the Department of Agriculture in Washington, is 
proposed to be established. The Secretary of Agriculture, to whom 
letters were sent by different members of this committee on domestic 
science, and Doctor True, in charge of the food investigations of the 
Department of Agriculture, informed the representative of the com¬ 
mittee that the practicable and desirable wa}^ of carrying out the 
purposes of the bill would be through the insertion of a clause in the 
agricultural appropriation bill now pending. On page 19 of the 
agricultural appropriation bill, in the appropriation made for nutri¬ 
tion investigations, the suggestion is made to insert a proviso so as 
to make the provision read: 

For nutrition investigations * * * twenty-five thousand dollars: Provided, That 
ten thousand dollars of this sum shall be expended for investigations and reports upon 
best methods and appliances for the preparation of food, with a view to advancing 
the interests of domestic science and to securing useful information for distribution 
in the homes of the people. 

The Chairman. That is the amendment you propose to the agri¬ 
cultural appropriation bill ? 

Miss Sickels. Yes; by which the provisions of Senate bill 4698 
can be carried out. 

Mrs. Fairbanks. But the whole appropriation is $25,000, instead 
of $10,000, as is provided in Senate bill 4698. 

Miss Sickels. The agricultural bill already provides $15,000 for 
nutrition investigations. The bill as we desire to have it amended 
will increase that sum to $25,000. 

Mrs. Kyle. I think it would be a good idea to glean what is best 
from German and French and other cooks. 

The Chairman. I have here a letter from the Secretary of Agri¬ 
cure, addressed to Mr. Proctor, in which he states that— 

For some years past Congress has appropriated $15,000 for nutrition investigations 
in this department, to enable the Secretary of Agriculture ‘‘to investigate and report 
upon the nutritive value of the various articles and commodities used for human food, 
with special suggestions of full, wholesome, and edible rations, less wasteful and more 
economical than those in common use. ” 

Now, you request that $10,000 shall be added to this fund, for the 
establishment of a special bureau in the Agricultural Department, to 
be devoted to the subject of domestic science? 

Miss Sickels. Yes; in order that the States which are now carrying 
on the work in the different agricultural colleges may be aided through 
the Department of Agriculture; that reports on the subject of domes¬ 
tic science may be sent to and through the Department of Agriculture. 

We do not ask for three million, or anything like that sum, but we 
just want to show what can be done. 


BUREAU OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE. 


•5 


The Chairman. Mrs. Fairbanks, have you any further suggestion 
to make? 

Mrs. Fairbanks. I have nothing to say except to indorse what 
Miss Sickels has said. Our Government has neglected this matter too 
long. 

Mrs. Kyle. We would like to start schools and carry on the work 
thoroughly. 

Senator Hansbrough. The Agricultural Department has had this 
matter under consideration ? 

The Chairman. Yes; the Secretary of Agriculture has written a 
letter on the subject, which is here. I will ask the secretary, Mr. 
Avery, to read the letter. 

Mr. Averv read as follows: 

Department of Agriculture, 

Office of the Secretary, 
Washington , D. C., January 20, 1899. 

Hon. Redfield Proctor, 

United States Senate. 

My Dear Senator: I have received from Mr. Brainard Avery, clerk to the Senate 
Committee on Agriculture and Forestry, a copy of Senate bill 4698, to establish a 
bureau of domestic science, upon which my recommendations are requested; also a 
copy of an amendment to H. R. 11266 (the agricultural appropriation bill), appropria¬ 
ting $5,000 to enable me to investigate and report upon the physiological action and 
nutritive value of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. 

For some years past Congress has appropriated $15,000 for nutrition investigation in 
this department to enable the Secretary of Agriculture “to investigate and report 
upon the nutritive value of the various articles and commodities used for human food, 
with special suggestions of full, wholesome, and edible rations less wasteful and more 
economical than those in common use.” In carrying on this investigation, subjects 
very closely related to “domestic science” were necessarily investigated; and if there 
is now any feature of the work which Congress thinks we should push with more vigor, 
the department is equipped and ready to obey. This applies equally to the amend¬ 
ment which provides for an investigation of the nutritive value of alcohol. In that 
event Congress might have to provide for additional appropriations, but for the work 
in hand the appropriations are sufficient. 

We are pushing this work with all deliberate speed and endeavoring to arouse the 
active interest of the agricultural colleges and experiment stations, so that they 
will put in practice the conclusions and facts brought out by this department through 
Doctor Atwater’s nutrition investigations. This work is now being conducted under 
the Office of Experiment Stations and can very well be continued without the estab¬ 
lishment of another division or bureau. 

Very truly, yours, James Wilson, Secretary. 

Senator Hansbrough. I suggest that the memorial presented by 
Senator Kyle be included in the hearing, so that we can have the 
matter together in a convenient form. 

The Chairman. I think that should be done. 

Senator Roach. Certainly. 

(The memorial referred to is as follows:) 

Mr. Kyle presented the following memorial relative to the bill 
(S. 4698) to establish a bureau of domestic science: 

INTRODUCTORY ADDRESS BY MISS EMMA C. SICKELS. 

The subject which I would briefly call to your attention is the first 
in history, but the last one to be considered in the point of progress. 
Conventions are held where the best methods of production are ably 
discussed and public policy influenced. Our great Government has 
established a department for which $3,500,000 was appropriated last 
year for investigations into the production of food. Colleges are 


6 


BUREAU OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE. 


established throughout the country where every facility is provided 
for education in the production of food. State fairs are held with 
generous appropriations. Institutes are conducted for further con¬ 
sideration of this question, and yet of what value is all of this expend¬ 
iture and effort if the healthful, nutritious product of the soil is 
mixed with unhealthful, even poisonous, substances, or if the food 
which may be produced with the greatest skill and manufactured 
with the highest standard of purity is ruined through the ignorance 
of the cook ? Do you realize that you rise early, work late, deny 
yourselves pleasures that your family may be well fed, and then 
actually pay your grocer for supplying you with food which poisons 
your families and undermines their health ? Do you know that there is 
really no protection against this most subtle and most universal form 
of manslaughter, and that unprincipled men can without fear become 
rich at the cost of the health, even of the life, of the community ? 

But, unfortunately, very few human beings exercise the same 
intelligence in feeding themselves or their families which the farmer 
uses in feeding his cattle, or the farmer’s wife observes in feeding the 
stove. You would not supply the cattle with sawdust nor feed the 
stove with stones, but great care and forethought are given to the 
kind of fodder which will produce the desired results, or the fuel 
needed, and yet the disastrous results of ignorance or neglect of right 
foods are universal and of incomparably more importance. 

I therefore recommend to your consideration and action any effort 
which may tend toward defending your work from this perversion of 
its most essential object, and that you agitate and legislate in such a 
manner that the public may be protected. This is not essentially a 
woman’s question. This is not especially woman’s work. It under¬ 
lies all interests of humanity more completely than does any other 
one subject, but men are the voters, men are the legislators, and men 
are the principal eaters; at least they are the monitors and the critics 
as to food which is cooked, and upon them is the responsibility of 
providing the facilities for the education of those who prepare the 
food. The National Pure Food Association has been organized of 
gentlemen whose reputation and position command for their work 
the confidence of the public. Their object is public agitation and 
action for pure food. 

The Domestic Science Association lias been organized for the pur¬ 
pose of developing a systematic knowledge of household art and for 
establishing departments where best methods and appliances for the 
preparation of food can be presented as thoroughly and on as com¬ 
plete and broad a scale as are the departments for presenting methods 
and appliances for the production of food. These are logical and 
inevitable accompaniments of the work of agriculture and demand 
attention. The failure to heed these demands has caused poverty, 
ill health, and untold misery. Intelligent action would tend to bring 
about the solution of one of the most difficult public problems with 
which humanity has to deal. 

DOMESTIC SCIENCE ASSOCIATION. 

The Domestic Science Association was incorporated in April, 
1894, “for promoting and developing systematic knowledge of best 
methods and appliances for domestic art and for placing the best 
foods before the greatest number of people.” 


BUREAU OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE. 


7 


It lias been quietly.and actively at work, educating public opinion, 
investigating legislative, social, and educational conditions, intro¬ 
ducing legislation on this subject in Congress, stimulating interest 
in the Department of Agriculture, securing the formation of domestic 
science committees, and action in the Woman’s National Council, 
Farmers’ National Congress, and other organizations. It has given 
practical exhibits of best methods and appliances for the household 
(or domestic science exhibits) at Madison Square Garden, New York, 
at the National Electrical Exposition, New York, in Washington, 
Chicago, and elsewhere. 

In March, 1895, the following bill was introduced in Congress by 
the active influence of Mrs. John M. Palmer, vice-president. The 
bill was introduced by Senator Gallinger and referred to the Com¬ 
mittee on Education and Labor: 

Whereas the industrial education of woman in household art is of national impor¬ 
tance and is a potent element of the labor problem; and 

Whereas a complete presentation of best methods and appliances in household arts 
would tend toward a solution of the labor problem: 

Be it enacted , That in connection with an exhibit already undertaken by the Gov¬ 
ernment a special department shall be provided for making an effective presentation 
of the best methods and appliances in domestic art. 

The resolution embodied in the above bill was unanimously 
indorsed by the Woman’s International Council, with the argument 
that large public interests would be served by, according to this 
important sphere of woman’s work, the dignity which would be 
bestowed upon it by such recognition. 

A domestic science committee was appointed by the council. 

January 7, 1896, a bill for establishing a bureau of domestic 
science in the Department of Agriculture was introduced into the 
Senate by Senator Kyle, chairman of the Senate Committee on Labor 
and Education, whose wife is the president of the organization. 

The department of domestic science was introduced into the Illinois 
State fair in 1896 by Mrs. Palmer and Miss Emma C. Sickels, sec¬ 
retary of the national association and president of the Chicago society. 
This domestic science department consisted of an exhibit of appliances 
and practice cooking classes of young girls. 

The Chicago Record advanced $100 for starting this work at the 
fair. Miss Sickels conducted the classes in 1896 and 1897 and 
counted it one of the most gratifying experiences in her work that in 
the second year the young girls were waiting eagerly for the opening 
of the classes and took up their work where they had left it the year 
before without forgetting any essential point. 

Realizing the need that concerted action be taken for establishing 
these departments of domestic science in connection with the study ol 
agriculture, the following resolution was sent to the Farmers’ 
National Congress in Indianapolis: 

Whereas, the ultimate object of agriculture is the production of food for mankind; 

Whereas that object fails in the most essential point if the food which is produced 
with skill is ruined in preparation through ignorance: Therefore be it 

Resolved , That we, the National Farmers’ Congress, use our active influence and 
effort toward establishing a bureau of domestic science in the Department of Agri¬ 
culture at Washington and in the various State agricultural fairs, colleges, and insti¬ 
tutes throughout the nation, where best methods and appliances for the preparation 
of food may be presented in connection with best methods and appliances for its 
production. 


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BUREAU OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE. 


f% It was approved, and in the convention meeting in St. Paul, 1897, 
was officially adopted, and the following committee on domestic 
science was appointed by the president of the National Farmers’ 
Congress to act on the resolution: Emma C. Sickels, chairman; Mrs. 
John M. Palmer, Springfield, Ill.; Mrs. James H. Kyle, Aberdeen, 
S. Dak.; Mr. John M. Stahl, secretary National Farmers’ Congress; 
Hon. William H. Liggett, dean Minnesota Agricultural College; Mrs. 
H. Thane Miller, Cincinnati, Ohio; Hon. Franklin Dye, secretary New 
Jersey State Board of Agriculture, and F. E. Dawley, director farmers’ 
institutes, New York State. 

Those efforts have been in the direction of “promoting and develop¬ 
ing systematic knowledge of best methods and appliances for domestic 
art.” 

The other object of the corporation has also received active atten¬ 
tion, namely: “Best food for the greatest number.” In order to 
meet and overcome the tendency to leave all practical study and 
presentation of foods in the hands of those “commercially interested,” 
who were only too apt to make representations that would sell the 
goods regardless of merit, the following resolutions were passed at 
the regular meeting of the Chicago Domestic Science Association, 
held Monday, January 18, 1897: 

^Whereas the interests of the producer, distributer, and consumer are mutual, and 
whatever tends to the advantage of the one promotes the welfare of the other; 

Whereas in the production, manufacture, and distribution of food it is for the mutual 
advantage of producer and consumer that a high standard be established and main¬ 
tained not only in preparation of food for the market, but also in the home; 

Whereas the Domestic Science Association is organized for placing the best food 
before the greatest number of people: Therefore be it 

Resolved , That we, the members of the Domestic Science Association of Chicago, 
will use our active influence and cooperation with the producers, manufacturers, and 
distributers of food products toward a more intelligent and adequate solution of the 
food problem, and for a higher standard in the quality and use of food in the various 
stages of production, manufacture, and preparation. 

This was the basis of the National Pure Food Association, zja 
association composed of men and women of national reputation who 
are directly interested in foods from the medical, sociological, and 
educational standpoint, having on its board of directors such names 
as that of Dr. S. J. Jones, president, ex-president of the American 
Academy of Medicine; Prof. E. J. James, president of the American 
Academy of Political and Social Science; O. L. Deming, editor of 
Chicago Grocer; Tarleton H. Bean, Prof. G. Bamberger, Mrs. A.|E. 
Paul, Mr. W. H. Phillips, and Emma C. Sickels, secretary, 

RESOLUTION BY WHICH THE NATIONAL PURE FOOD ASSOCIATION 
WORKS WITH AND THROUGH OTHER ORGANIZATIONS. 


Whereas the health and welfare of human life so largely depend upon the nutritive 
value and purity of food; 

Whereas not only are our commercial reputations and interest at home and abroad 
injured by the manufacture and sale of spurious and adulterated foods, but also 
human life and health are jeopardized: Therefore be it 

Resolved , That we will seek to secure and to have enforced uniform national laws by 
which business integrity and public welfare may be protected. 

Be it further resolved , That we use our active influence and effort toward more general 
knowledge of the use of the best foods.. 

Acting in cooperation with the Pure Food Association, the Do¬ 
mestic Science Association gave lectures and demonstrations of foods 


BUREAU OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE. 


9 


in the important clubs and organizations in Chicago during 1897. The 
danger to the permanent benefit by poorly prepared “ teachers” made 
this resolution necessary. 

The following was adopted March 27, 1897: 

Be it further resolved, That our influence and cooperation shall be guided by merit, 
without favor or prejudice to any; striving to develop and maintain a high standard 
of food for the market and the home, opposing that which is of low grade or makes 
false pretense for the sake of gain, and that we urge that those associated with us give 
us their sincere cooperation in promoting a high standard in preparation of foods, 
discountenancing those who ignorantly or dishonestly follow methods of instruction 
not founded on knowledge or fact. 

In February the domestic science committee of the Farmers’ Con¬ 
gress gave the corn exhibit of the Corn Convention in Chicago. 

Washington City is now the center of action. 

The plan of the organization is to have a limited working member¬ 
ship who can readily keep in touch with the development of the central 
objects and by continuous action avoid the interruptions and con¬ 
fusion apt to result from frequently changing large bodies. 

Mrs. James H. Kyle, wife of chairman of Senate Committee on 
Labor and Education; Mrs. John M. Palmer, wife of ex-Senator 
Palmer, of Illinois; Mrs. Charles W. Fairbanks, Mrs. George Stevens, 
Mrs. Jennie Shepard, Miss Emma C. Sickels (organizer), Mrs. E. J. 
Loomis, Mrs. David Alton, Mrs. Charles Babcock, Mrs. James H. 
Krebs, Mrs. Rufus Bartlett, and Mrs. Jessie Patten Milner are among 
those actively identified with the Domestic Science Association. The 
work is supported entirely by the personal contributions of the 
directors of the association. 

Resolutions sent to Woman’s Christian Temperance Union in 1897: 

Whereas proper food is a vital element in the problem of temperance; 

Whereas instruction in .the principles of nutritive value of food as a preventive of 
the need of stimulants would be a most effective education in temperance; 

Whereas instruction in quality, use, and preparation of food is a logical sequence 
in the investigation and experiments in agriculture undertaken at the public expense: 
Therefore be it 

Resolved , That we, the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, will take action 
toward the development of education in the nutritive value of foods at the various 
centers throughout the nation where investigation and experiments are being con¬ 
ducted, at public expense, in the production of food. 

This resolution was sent from the Domestic Science Association of Chicago. 

[corporate seal.] Emma C. Sickels, 

President, 

Martha H. Krebs, 

Secretary, 

Mrs. David Alton, 

Former President South Side Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 

Mrs. Charles Babcock, 

Former Secretary South Side Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, 

Mrs. E. J. Loomis, 

Committee. 

Copies of this resolution were sent to the local executive committee 
of the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, to the Illinois State 
Woman’s Christian Temperance Union, and to the national conven¬ 
tion, where they were referred to the committee on resolutions. The 
Domestic Science Association was informed that a “ committee would 
be appointed in this important work.’ This has been done. 

Much missionary work has been done in the study of foods by the 
Domestic Science Association, which has branched out in unexpected 


10 


BUREAU OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE. 


directions, and both directly and indirectly bears evidence of the 
soundness of the principles and practicability of its methods. 

Following is a copy of bill recently introduced in the United States 
Senate: 


A BILL To establish a bureau of domestic science. 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America 
in Congress assembled, That the sum of ten thousand dollars is hereby appropriated, 
from any funds in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for the purpose of estab¬ 
lishing, in connection with the Department of Agriculture, a bureau of domestic 
science, in which investigations as to methods and appliances for the preparation of 
food shall be conducted; and said bureau shall make an annual report of such investi¬ 
gations, which shall be printed for general distribution. 

STATEMENT OF DR. T. H. BEAN, OF THE NATIONAL PURE 

FOOD ASSOCIATION. 

Doctor Bean. Mr. Chairman, if I may be allowed a word, I will 
state that the object of the meeting this morning is not in any way to 
interfere with or to lessen the opportunity for work in the Department 
of Agriculture, but to do something more than is undertaken by the 
department, and something which appears to us quite as necessary to 
the public welfare. 

I have known of Doctor Atwater’s investigations of nutrition for 
more than twenty years, and I know they are admirable and that they 
have served-an extremely useful purpose; but this committee of the 
Domestic Science Association and the associations which they repre¬ 
sent desire to go a step further. Besides showing the nutritive value 
of the food they desire to show the methods of its preparation for 
introduction on the table, so that it may be suitable for human food. 

The Chairman. That is embraced in the amendment. 

Doctor Bean. It is embraced in the amendment—that is to say, it 
is to be done by the additional $10,000 which is asked in the agricul¬ 
tural appropriation bill. You will observe from the letter of the 
Secretary of Agriculture, as well as from the reports of the work, 
that those reports do not cover anything except nutrition, the nutri¬ 
tive value of food. This goes beyond and is intended to show how 
nutritious food may be properly made useful for consumption. 

ADDITIONAL STATEMENT OF MISS EMMA C. SICKELS. 

Miss Sickels. I should like to state that I presented to Secretary 
Wilson a letter, forwarded to me by Mrs. Palmer, from the wife of 
Consul Barnes, in Cologne, Germany, saying that she realizes the 
importance of the introduction of corn, and her husband and herself 
desire to do all that is possible in this direction in Germany, but that 
unless thay have a better knowledge of the methods of the prepara¬ 
tion of corn they will be able to do but little. 

The Chairman. It is not everyone who knows how to make corn 
bread, although the process seems very simple. 

Senator Hansbrough. I should like to have the amendment to the 
agricultural appropriation bill inserted in the hearing at this point. 


BUREAU OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE. 


11 


The amendment is as follows: 

Clause to be inserted in agricultural bill now pending. 

For nutrition investigations, * * * $25,000: Provided , That $10,000 of this 
sum shall be expended for investigations and reports upon best methods and appli¬ 
ances for the preparation of food with a view to advancing the interests of domestic 
science and to secure useful information for distribution in the homes of the people. 

Miss Sickels. I submit a letter from Mr. Voorhees, who is quite 
familiar with Professor Atwater’s work, having been associated with 
him, in which he speaks of this special line of work as being of great 
importance. 

The letter referred to is as follows: 

New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Stations, 

New Brunswick, N. JJanuary 25, 1899. 
Miss Emma C. Sickels, Washington, D. C. 

My Dear Madam: I have your letter of the 23d instant, and have to say in reply 
that owing to my absence from the city I was unable to write to Secretary Wilson, 
as per your request, until yesterday. I expect to be in Washington next week, and 
shall then personally see a number of our Congressmen. I have already seen Mr. 
Howell, who represents this district. You may be assured that I am interested in this 
matter, and that. I am doing what I believe to be work which will be of assistance. 

Very truly, yours, 

E. B. Voorhees, Director. 

Doctor Bean. Mr. Atwater is a chemist, and gives us the nutritive 
properties of food, but gives nothing about their preparation. 

Miss Sickels. I have many other similar letters. 

Senator Hansbrough. Mr. Chairman, does this conclude the hear¬ 
ing? 

The Chairman. If that is all these ladies have to say, we will not 
detain them longer. 

Senator Hansbrough. For my part I am very glad to have heard 
them. 

Miss Sickels. Secretary Trimble, of the National Grange, is here, 
and the grange represents so wide a field that we would like to have 
you hear him. 

Senator Hansbrough. Mr. Trimble, I did not observe that you 
were present. 

The Chairman. We shall be glad to hear you, Mr. Trimble. 

STATEMENT OF JOHN TRIMBLE, SECRETARY OF THE NATIONAL 

ORANGE, PATRONS OF HUSBANDRY. 

Mr. Trimble. Mr. Chairman, 1 am not here to make a speech, nor 
will I make one. I am heart and soul in sympathy with this movement. 

The Chairman. Does the National Grange Association indorse it? 

Mr. Trimble. We do, most heartily. Personally and officially I 
am in favor of it, and I believe it a matter of vital importance to the 
farming interests, which I immediately represent. 

I wish to say but one word in this connection, and I should like to 
have it impressed upon the committee and the Senate. I am an 
enthusiast, and have been for many years, on the subject ol the great 
American product, the greatest American product—corn; and I 
should like to have that, if it can come about in this way, made a 
prominent feature. I have all my life, as long as I can remember, 
anyway, believed in corn as food in its various forms, and I have 
eaten it daily. I believe as an article of food it is the best. 


12 


BUREAU OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE. 


The Chairman. Mr. Secretary, do you believe that developing this 
work of the Domestic Science Association would increase the market 
demand for corn ? 

Mr. Trimble. Yes, sir. 

ADDITIONAL STATEMENT OF MISS EMMA C. SICKELS. 

Miss Sickels. May I also refer to an article upon corn in the June 
North American Review, by Mr. John M. Stahl !' He has written an 
article on corn in which he refers to the work of our committee on 
domestic science. 

The Chairman. The Farmers’ National Congess has taken action 
on this subject ? 

Miss Sickels. Yes; they took official action indorsing it, and I 
read the resolution they adopted, which also appears on page 3 of 
the memorial. This work has been developed through each of the 
organizations, and also through the National Pure Food Association, 
whose headquarters are in Chicago, to which reference is made on 
page 4 of the memorial. 

The Chairman. My colleague, Mr. Hansbrough, and myself have 
charge of the pure food bill. Mr. Hansbrough reported it a few days 
ago to the Senate as it is on the calendar. 

Miss Sickels. The National Pure Food Association was incor¬ 
porated two years ago, and through the Pure Food Congress, to which 
we have been delegates, we have hoped to develop one of the branches 
of the work of our organization, which is legislation. The National 
Pure Food Association was incorporated for all the purposes which 
lead to the development- of the study of food. It was incorporated 
before the Pure Food Congress was thought of, and we aided in the 
development of.the congress as one of our means of working. 

The Chairman. The hearing has been a very interesting one, and 
if there is nothing further the subcommittee will adjourn. 

(The subcommittee thereupon adjourned.) 


Hearing Before the Industrial Commission, Senator James H. 

Kyle, Chairman. 

Chicago, III., March 27, 1900. 

TESTIMONY OF MISS EMMA C. SICKELS, NATIONAL SECRETARY OF THE NATIONAL PURE 

FOOD ASSOCIATION, ALSO SECRETARY OF THE NATIONAL DOMESTIC SCIENCE ASSO¬ 
CIATION. 

The special subcommission met at 7.15 p. m., March 27, 1900, in the Auditorium 
Hotel, Chicago, Mr. Clarke presiding. At that time Miss Emma C. Sickels was sworn 
as a witness, and testified as follows: 

Q. (By Mr. A. L. Harris.) You may state your name, your post-office address, and 
the name of ^our association, and the official position that you hold in the association.— 
A. Emma C. Sickels, 5435 Washington avenue, Chicago, secretary of the National 
Pure Food Association, and also secretary of the National Domestic Science Associa¬ 
tion. These are two distinct corporations. They are two affiliated bodies. 

Q. You may make your statement now in your own way, touching upon such points 
as you desire.—A. A congressional report of an inquiry which was made a few years 
ago, into the unbalanced industrial conditions gave as one of the causes the crowding 
of women into all fields of men’s work and the neglect of the home. It is evident, 
therefore, that inquiry might be well made into the reasons for this desertion of the 
home and the attraction which men’s work has for women. Statistics show that in the 
colleges, universities, secondary and primary schools, the ultimate object seems to be 
for some form of professional life. Comparatively small opportunity is given for 



BUREAU OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE. 


13 


education in performing to the best advantage, the normal, healthful vocations of life, 
such as agriculture, mechanics, the best methods of conducting a farm or a business, or 
the best methods of conducting a home. In other words, education is designed to meet 
abnormal or diseased conditions of the individual or society, while the means for best 
promoting the normal conditions are neglected. Abnormal conditions are actually 
developed by the facilities provided for meeting them. Normal conditions suffer from 
neglect, and the social and industrial balance is disturbed. This is especially true in 
all lines of women’s work. If women wish to fit themselves for some employment, the 
only opportunities for a thorough education lie in some field of men’s work, some pro¬ 
fession, some mercantile or mechanical industry. I can say from my own experience 
that it is easier for a woman to be a physician, a lawyer, a chemist, or a soldier than it is 
to be a cook, in the broadest sense of the word. It is easier to learn about anatomy, 
botany, the heavens above, or the animalculi in the deep sea than it is to learn about 
the principles of the combinations of food materials and the right use of foods for the 
best results to the individual and in the family. There is no place in which domestic 
science—the knowledge of daily living—can be taught in the systematic way in which 
almost every other science can now be taught. 

For twenty years I have been trying to find some opportunity or some opening 
where I could make as thorough and systematic a study of the laws for the preserva¬ 
tion and continuance of health as are now afforded in the schools of medicine for its 
restoration. In my own experience, finding that the lack of the right food, when I 
was a school girl, was the cause of a threatened invalidism for the rest of my life, I 
determined to make a study of this as a science, believing that it was a matter of the 
widest importance to all individuals. I have found no place, in any school or univer¬ 
sity, where the simple necessary rules of life are efficiently and effectually taught. 
After having learned of the report which was made by the congressional committee 
and of the importance of woman’s relation to this industrial condition, it seemed to 
me that the legislation which is now being considered in reference to other industries 
should also apply to this. I have found that it was a new subject to nearly all of the 
gentlemen to whom I have proposed it. I have found also that it seems only to need 
to have its importance presented to them to have their ready cooperation. 

Last year a subcommittee was appointed from the United States Senate Committee 
on Agriculture to consider the subject of a systematic study into the methods of pre¬ 
paring foods, to be made in the different argicultural colleges which are now more 
or less equipped for that purpose; to have these investigations scientifically carried 
on, and report to the Department of Agriculture. Through this department these 
reports would be systematized; the best work of the different colleges could be con¬ 
centrated, and reports sent out for the use of the different schools and colleges and 
for distribution in the homes. 

There are many colleges which are now giving attention to this subject—a study of 
the systematic preparation and use of foods. These are handicapped by lack of funds, 
and are even more handicapped by lack of system. By the carrying out of this plan, 
which received the cordial approval of the Senate committee, the work which is now 
being done in a limited way can be broadened and can be made available for the use of 
the homes throughout the country. 

It was with the idea of showing the direct relation of this educational to this indus¬ 
trial problem, which is becoming so important in the social and industrial conditions, 
referred to in the beginning, that this matter has. been brought before the industrial 
commission for your consideration and investigation of the different lines and of the 
different facts which have come within our observation, with a view to learning on our 
part in what way legislation can most fully bring about the best knowledge, by indus¬ 
trial education, in the preparation and use of food. In direct connection with this is 
also the national legislation for uniform standard of food. These are the subjects which 
the representatives will treat to-night. . 

Q. In what States have you departments or communications with agricultural col¬ 
leges?—A. We have not departments, but the different colleges themselves have estab¬ 
lished departments in Minnesota, Iowa, Ohio, Illinois, Kansas, and I do not know 
what other States. [To Professor Davenport.] Do you know in what other States? 

Professor Davenport. South Dakota and Michigan. . 

Q. (By Mr. A. L. Harris.) Are these schools in a flourishing condition?—A. They 
are in a flourishing condition so far as the opportunity affords, showing the recognition 
of the necessity, but they are handicapped by the lack of system and lack of funds. 

Q. Do you desire to have other States inaugurate the same system in their agricul¬ 
tural colleges?—A. Yes; and some uniform system should be developed which will be 
applicable^ all of those which are established and those which will be established. 

Q. You desire to have some national legislation along this line?—A. That is the pur¬ 
pose. That was recommended by the senate committee on domestic science last 

winter. 


14 


BUREAU OF DOMESTIC SCIENCE. 


Q. Have you anything further now that you desire to state?—A. I have nothing 
further. 

Q. (By Mr. Kennedy.) In the public schools in some cities the girls are given 
lessons in cooking once a week or twice a week sometimes. Is it your idea to have 
anything in connection with this science of yours taught to these little children in 
the cooking schools or the public schools?—A. Yes; that would naturally follow from 
this work in the universities. It would extend throughout the educational system 
of the country. 

I should speak of a class I had in the social settlement, where the women were the 
wives of laboring men who could not afford the car fare to come, but walked, some of 
them, a mile through a blizzard, bringing their own utensils with them; and they 
said it was “such a great thing to get up in the morning and know how things were 
going to turn out.” It seems as if the means of meeting this should be as extensive 
as the need, which is an underlying necessity, I think, throughout the whole social 
system. 

In our domestic-science work, which was the first phase of this movement which 
was organized, we found that there were many others who were working along the 
same line, not knowing of one another’s work. A conference was called January 29, 
1897. A number who were interested in different lines responded, and from that 
grew the National Pure Food Association, of which Doctor Jones is the president. 

Q. (By Mr. Clarke.) You spoke of lack of text-books or other instructive writings 
on the subject which you experienced in your school days. Has that want been 
supplied to any extent?—A. It has not. I have here a letter from the president of 
the Illinois Domestic Science Association, in which she says that the women have 
organized throughout the counties of the State in connection with the teachers’ 
institutes. They have obtained the literature supplied by the Department of Agri¬ 
culture upon this subject, and all others which they can find available, but they find 
so little of practical use in them that it is very discouraging. 

Q. Some hygienic writing will be necessary as a part of the text-books or the litera¬ 
ture on the subject?—A. Yes; and this phase of the subject is being taken up by the 
different schools in agricultural experiment stations, showing the nutritious effect 
of food. 

Q. Have you gathered the pamphlets or circulars on the subject which have been 
put out from time to time?—A. I have, and studied them carefully. I am supplied 
regularly with each new publication as it comes out from these experiment stations 
by Doctor True, with whom I am personally acquainted. Doctor True is in charge 
of this department in Washington. 

Q. Are you familiar with the temperance text-books which have been issued to the 
schools in some of the States?-—A. No; I am not. It has been my stand and argument 
with the temperance women that lessons in nutrition of food, and the useful application 
of that knowledge of nutritious food, would be much more effective than lessons on a 
stimulant, the use of which in most cases is due to the lack of nutritious food. So I 
have paid comparatively little attention to that phase of the question. 

Q. Have any steps been taken by the Pure Food Association toward providing 
suitable literature on the subject?—A. The Pure Food Association has worked through 
and with other organizations in the line of this national work, feeling that it would be 
so much more effective and broader to reach those who are already widely equipped. 

Q. (By Mr. A. L. Harris.) Is the Agricultural Department at Washington doing 
anything in the way of nutritious food; making any appropriations?—A. Last year an 
appropriation was made of $15,000 to investigate into the nutrition of food. I think 
the argument will hold which I gave to Secretary Wilson, that although he might 
know the exact amount of carbohydrates and proteids in the foods set before him, if 
they were not prepared correctly he would not appreciate his dinner very well; show¬ 
ing that in practical application the methods of preparation have the greatest value 
and importance. These investigations which are now made are almost solely as to 
the nutritious effects of the food; the so-called balanced ration of individuals. 

Q. Has the Secretary of Agriculture made any recommendations for appropriations 
along the line of your association?—A. He tokf me that it was a subject in which he 
was very heartily interested, and that he would be very glad to yield to the public 
request; that if he took the initiative he would be accused of making requests per¬ 
sonally which were not supported by the public; but that he would second and sup¬ 
port any request that was made publicly for it. 

Q. You understand, then, he is in sympathy with the work of your association?— 
A. He so told me, and he has so told others. 


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